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The Talibans rapid, uncertain transition toward ruling Afghanistan exacerbates significant security and defense challenges for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union (EU) nations, seriously galvanizing Europes two key alliances and making them consider altering where they might head next. These challenges actually present the opportunity for faster action for joint NATO-EU coordination and operations planning. Exploring how such joint operations coordination and planning might unfold and how NATO-EU missions and operations might emerge is important at such a difficult historical juncture, particularly when the world is focused on withdrawals from Afghanistan.

Without the transatlantic linkages binding both continents via NATOs North Atlantic Allies, the U.S. and Canada, to their oldest allies in Europe, these decades-old alliances likely wont take advantage of such historic junctures and, therefore, should explore and consider moving faster to integrate NATO civilian-military planning with vaster, stability-enhancing EU measures. Rooted in NATO and EU institutional ties, partnerships, and treaties, binding membership nations and their respective, independent, and sovereign national commitments, lies the crucial transatlantic underpinning to Europe that reinforces both alliances.

Amid the many challenges to NATO and EU integrity, let alone their existence cyber insecurity, international terrorist network attacks, energy disruption, emerging great power competitions (primarily Russia, China), climate turmoil, pandemic degradation, and mass migration growing practical NATO-EU linkages might enable new resilience. Cooperatively adapting to NATO-EU operations planning, coordination, and implementation might allow both to grapple more effectively with such ever-changing and increasing threats across Europe and North America.

During the past three post-Cold War decades, cooperative security became one of NATOs core tasks. Its development between NATO and the EU created the potential for both alliances to consider fundamental challenges together. By building on NATOs collective defense mantle for defending its members from adversaries, NATO and EU leaders might bind NATO better to the EUs collective security foundation one preventing members from fighting uncontrollably against one another. Certainly, U.S.-Canadian Transatlantic relations face more difficult political problems to press NATO and EU leaders and policymakers to consider finding more effective ways and means to re-solidify enduring transatlantic bonds.

Yet, these alliances endured great threats to their existence and now provide the juncture to begin combining nation-based collective and cooperative advantages across both institutions.

International turbulence and chaos only look to worsen, especially when overlapping alliance responsibilities continue to have NATO and the EU separately project their different alliance operations beyond their territorial borders; witness this centurys missions and operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and elsewhere across North Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. NATO and the EU might better consider how together they might improve their crisis management planning and swifter, mutually reinforcing policies and joint missions.

Signaling the reinvigorated North Atlantic role from Washington and Ottawa, President BidenJoe BidenFather of slain Marine: 'Biden turned his back on him' US conducts military strike against ISIS-K planner Pentagon official holds first talks with Chinese military under Biden: report MORE met with counterparts on his only trip abroad, discussing and coordinating next steps at book-ended G-7 and US-Russia summits, and revitalizing allies at the NATO and EU summits the latter renewing U.S. participation since 2017.

From these summits NATO-EU ties might expand more quickly, seriously accelerated by Afghanistans disarray, and potentially leading more quickly to better coordinating resources and considering how to synchronize fewer missions and operations doing so by potentially conducting them together. Such operations planning might lead to greater, more practical considerations to coordinate continental, European challenges within their borders to accelerate greater NATO-EU operational and strategic ties.

NATO and EU have already learned lessons for exploring better coordination on operations planning and potential implementation from the thousands of post-Cold War experiences in educating, training, exercising, planning, resourcing, and operating. From these, allied leaders and planning staffs might enhance and adapt NATO-EU cooperative security and defense challenges via joint operations planning on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

Key alliance crisis management strategies already illustrate cooperative baselines for brisker NATO-EU planning, better to protect NATO-EU territories. Such NATO collective defense visions for its Concept for Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area, Readiness Action Plan, and Warfighting Capstone Concept might now progress better alongside EU collective security commitments under the Permanent Structured Co-operation for its Military Mobility and European Defence Agency.

NATOs Partnership For Peace (PFP) cooperative security process epitomizes essential, operational bridge-building to accelerate NATO-EU planning. Bringing member and partner nations together, even if partners never join either or both alliances, captures PFPs 30-year operational planning successes, particularly NATO and EU missions and operations across the Balkans. For NATO-EU nations to utilize such means to strengthen ties speeds cooperative security expedients, fostering better allied resilience, power projection, and command, control, communication, and computers with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.

Resilience and adaptation underscore how the 70-year plus NATO and EU longevity points toward closer coordination, better facing sober realities including chaotic withdrawals from foreign entanglements, continuing financial burdens, duplicative institutional responsibilities, and divisive national policies. Above all, both institutions remain resilient, even with Afghanistans aftermath, the United Kingdoms EU withdrawal, Eurasian and Transcaucasian nations continually wanting to join these institutions over Russias objections, and various member nations differing over energy policies.

Avoiding alliance pitfalls demands practical, realistic, and adequate operations planning. Afghanistans bleak realities propel crucial NATO-EU cooperative security for NATOs collective defense and the EUs collective security to forge ahead.

Dr. Joshua B. Sperois professor of international relations at Fitchburg State University. He served as senior civilian strategic and scenario planner in the Joint Chiefs of Staffs J-5 Directorate for Strategic Plans and Policy/Europe-NATO Division from 1994 to 2000 and was lead joint staffer on the Partnership for Peace (PfP) policy/funding/programs.

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Transatlantic ties that bind Europe | TheHill - The Hill

With the European Union weighing blocking American travelers from visiting, a group representing hundreds of the world's airlines called on countries around the world earlier this week to adopt a COVID digital passport used by the E.U.

"In the absence of a single global standard for digital vaccine certificates, it should serve as a blueprint for other nations looking to implement digital vaccination certificates to help facilitate travel and its associated economic benefits," Conrad Clifford, deputy director general of the International Air Transport Association said in a statement.

The E.U.'s solution, a standardized paper and digital certificate that could be used across the E.U, was first proposed in November and has now reached full adoption in all 27 E.U. countries, and even non-E.U. countries like Switzerland, Turkey and Norway. It could also be appealing to global companies as they implement stricter rules requiring workers and customers to get vaccinated or tested.

Jakub Hlvka, a health policy fellow at the USC Schaeffer Institute who has been looking at the ethics of COVID passports, said these types of passports are especially useful for countries who don't want to limit travel and hurt tourism, while also slowing the spread of the coronavirus.

"A vaccination travel certificate would actually prevent the introduction of cases from countries not covered under travel bans, most notably Mexico, where a lot of people can get infected with delta and bring it into the U.S. without any strong precautions in place," he said.

Here's how it works:

The Digital COVID Certificate, as the passport is called, uses a framework that the E.U. developed so all digital COVID vaccination cards are standardized and can be verified quickly in every participating country.

Each country has a digital and paper version of their vaccination cards. Some countries, like France, have created a downloadable app that stores the DCC. France's app TousAntiCovid, and Italy's Immuni, allow residents to upload their vaccination record and negative COVID tests. Other countries like Belgium rely on a web app or a saved PDF.

There is no universal platform that's used across the E.U.

Non-E.U. residents can ask the country they are traveling to for a DCC, provided that country will accept their proof of vaccination. Only four vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca) are accepted by the E.U., meaning Covidshield, a vaccine that has been distributed across low-income countries, is not accepted by the E.U. at large (though some countries will accept it).

The certificate contains one's name, date of birth, COVID-19 vaccine or test information, the date the record was issued and, in a QR code, a unique digital signature every health provider administering the vaccine has.

This digital signature confirms patients have gotten the vaccine, and every country in the E.U. has access to those signatures to verify the legitimacy of the vaccination record. Other information like name and date of birth are not recorded.

The E.U.'s fix for safe travelling in a post-pandemic world is the most-used solution, allowing people to move within the member countries while allowing each flexibility. The IATA said 60 other countries are using the DCC as a blueprint for their own national system.

The widespread adoption of a standardized pass in Europe is in stark contrast to the U.S., which has not pursued any national form of verification outside of the easy-to-replicate CDC-issued paper vaccine cards. States have come up with their own solutions, like California's digital vaccination record and New York's Excelsior Pass, both of which can be used to enter businesses that have some sort of vaccine mandate. But neither are valid for travel in and out of the country, even as the Biden administration continues to uphold the E.U. travel ban.

The biggest hurdle for the U.S. is to build a digital infrastructure that maintains a national registry. That would require real-time data collection from every state. Right now, states have separate data collection streams that harbor information about who is vaccinated, and when they got vaccinated. If a California resident got one vaccine in California, and another in a different state, California's digital vaccination record won't show proof of the second vaccine.

Most countries with a national digital vaccination standard are able to use existing infrastructure from having a form of universal health care. The E.U. leveraged its eHealth Network, a network used by every member of the union. Israel, which developed the Green Pass, also has a compulsory health care plan.

Many states in the U.S. haven't created a centralized state system, making it difficult for 50 states and U.S. territories to coordinate on a standardized system. But the CDC and other agencies regularly collect state and municipal data to track the spread of COVID-19.

Hlvka said the U.S. might be better off considering an opt-in registry that is recognized by other countries, whereby those who want to travel out of the country can voluntarily upload their vaccination record and show proof.

"If we asked a few programmers in Silicon Valley, we could have this in a few hours," Hlvka said. "This is not technically difficult."

And as the U.S. travel ban on the E.U. persists, and the E.U. considers banning American travelers as well, Hlvka said the lack of standardization and a national system is preventing families from reconnecting and hurting tourism.

"The status quo is hurting the U.S. economy and reopening travel, possibly using a mutually recognized vaccination certificate/passport, would be a safe way to reopen borders and increase incentives to get vaccinated," he said.

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Could the EUs Universal COVID Passport Serve as a Blueprint for the US? - dot.LA

DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TOETHIOPIA

Author: J.NAUDTS

Date: August 20th,2021

Classification:LIMITED

To: RitaLaranjinha

Subject: ETHIOPIA OverviewAugust 14 20: Both sides remain convinced that amilitary victory is withinreach

While fightingbetween TDF/TPLF and ENDF/Amhara Forces continued on severalfronts, OLA extended occupation of rural areas in OromiaRegion and gained control over some important roads. Thereseems to be small to no appetite to start negotiating atthis point: both sides are convinced that they will be ableto achieve a decisive military victory within the comingmonths. Eritrea reportedly sent reinforcements to WesternTigray and might be preparing a new offensive. There is nomore food available in Tigray and the humanitarian needs inother regions are also growing fast. The repression againstethnic Tigrayans in Addis Ababa and other parts of Ethiopiais continuing. PM Abiy Ahmed made a visit Asmara and toTurkey where he signed a military cooperationagreement.

1. Whilefighting between TDF/TPLF and ENDF/Amhara Forces continuedon several fronts, OLA managed to occupy large parts of therural areas in Oromia including gaining control over someimportant roads. It will require a lot of security resourcesfrom the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to manage thegeographical expansion of OLA territory and to try to regaincontrol over the occupied areas.

2. Some analysts aresaying that Eritrea is preparing a counter-offensive fromthe North and from the West against TDF/TPLF in order toforce the Tigrayans to withdraw troops from the current wartheatres in Amhara. Other analysts point out that Eritreamight be preparing for a TDF/TPLF offensive into Eritreawhich is anticipated to start after the rainy season (by theend of September).

3. The GoE continues stressing thatno negotiation with TDF/TPLF will be possible, unless thelatter stops fighting and withdraw from Amhara region. Bothsides are convinced that they will be able to obtain adecisive military victory within the coming months, forcingthe other side to make important concessions in a possiblefuture negotiation.

4. GoE did not loosen restrictionson humanitarian access to Tigray. While continue pledgingunfettered humanitarian access, the reality created on theground is different as experienced by the Delegationwhile trying to obtain flight permissions for theHumanitarian Air Bridge to Mekelle.

5. On theinternational scene, PM Abiy Ahmed made a visit to Asmara onhis way to Turkey, where he signs a military cooperationagreement. In all likelihood the PM was discussingthe

procurement of drone technology which in theeyes of the Ethiopian PM could hand a decisive militaryadvantage to the ENDF. Unconfirmed reports of Turkish dronesto be deployed in Ethiopia soon followed thevisit.

6. During the week of August 14th-20th,fighting between TDF/TPLF and ENDF/Amhara forces continuedon at least four fronts in the Amhara Region: Debark (roadfrom Tigray border to Gondar), Sekota (road from Tigrayborder to Lalibela), Debre Tabor (road from Weldia to BaharDar) and Winchale (road from Weldia to Dessie). Severalclaims and counter-claims were made about the occupation oftowns, with the overall trend still indicating a furtheradvance of TDF/TPLF forces deeper into the AmharaRegion.

7. ENDF launched a counter-offensive from Afarinto Tigray, launching attacks on the TDF/TPLF Easternflank. Fighting was reported near Chifra (Afar) and Mehoni(Tigray).

8. Over the past days, Deputy Prime MinisterDemeke Mekonnen visited several places in Amhara close tothe front lines. He is the first member of the Governmentknown to visit areas with active fighting since the start ofthe conflict.

9. Several universities in Amhara Regionhave started organizing basic military training programs fortheir staff and students.

10. After the announcement of its alliancewith TDF/TPLF, more focus was put on the Oromo LiberationArmy (OLA). While initial assessments showed some doubts onthe OLAs numerical strength and military capacities, theyhave made some remarkable progress over the past weeks incontrolling several rural areas and in cutting importantroads. In Western Oromia, OLA controls several the ruralareas of the four Wellega zones, as well as the mainroads around the town of Nekemte. In Southern Oromia, OLAcontrols rural areas of the Guji Zone and managed toestablish check points on the main road between Addis Ababaand the Kenyan border. In the North Shoa Zone of NorthernOromia, OLA took control of rural areas near the town ofKuyu and also briefly occupied the town itself.

11. InSouth-Eastern Amhara, OLA is reported to have occupiedseveral rural districts near the town of Kemisse on the mainroad from Addis Ababa towards Dessie and Weldia. OLA is alsoreported to be have established itself around the gorge ofthe Blue Nile on the border between the Amhara and OromiaRegional States, and to have established a check point onthe main road between Addis Ababa and Bahar Dar near thebridge at Dejen.

12. While the OLA clearly does nothave the same level of organization, equipment and militaryexperience as the TDF/TPLF, the organization seems to beinggaining support among the rural population in large parts ofthe Oromia Region (as well as in areas of the Amhara Regionwith a strong presence of ethnic Oromo). It was reportedfrom some rural areas how OLA enters villages, calls villagemeetings in order to explain its objectives and policies tothe local

population and afterwards just asks theProsperity Party administrators and security forces to leavepeacefully which in some cases happened.

13. OnAugust 17th, one of the smaller opposition parties in theAfar Region, the Afar National Democratic Party, announcedthat it will join the TDF/TPLF-OLA coalition against theGovernment of PM Abiy Ahmed. It is reported that alsosmaller, relatively unknown movements such as theBenishangul Liberation Front and the Sidama Liberation Fronthave announced that they will join the TDF/TPLF-OLAalliance. One of the two factions in the Oromo Liberationfront (OLF), on the other hand, announced that it willcontinue to support PM Abiy Ahmed.

14.Eritrean troops are occupying a strip of territory inNorthern Tigray reaching from Adigrat to Shire and Badme.Eritrean troops are also present in Western Tigray, wherethey have taken up defensive positions with tanks andartillery around Adi Goshu and Humera, and possibly alsoalong the border with Sudan. Over the past days, it wasreported that Eritrea has sent

reinforcements toWestern Tigray. This could possibly have been done in orderto replace ENDF and Amhara units that have been re-deployedin Amhara Region.

15. PM Abiy Ahmed made a short visitto the Eritrean capital Asmara on August 17th no moredetails as the visit was not publicised.

16. Samantha Power, head of the U.S. Agencyfor International Development (USAID), issued a statement onAugust 19th highlighting that for the first time in ninemonths of war in Ethiopias Tigray region aid workerswill this week run out of food to deliver to millions ofpeople in the Region who are facing hunger: USAID and itspartners as well as other humanitarian organizations havedepleted their stores of food items warehoused inTigray.

17. In the meantime, Western Tigray currently occupied by Amhara, Eritrean and ENDF forces remains inaccessible to humanitarian actors.

18. Dueto active fighting, humanitarian needs in the Afar andAmhara Regions are increasing fast. Exact numbers are hardto come by, but it is known that several 100,000s of peoplebecome IDPs over the past weeks. USAID made public itsnew allocation of humanitarian aid to the tworegions.

19. The Telegraph Newspaper on August 17thpublished a detailed account including satellite pictures of TDF/TPLF attacks on Amhara civilians in severalvillages in the Kobo area between Alamata and Weldia thatwould have taken place during the first week of August.TDF/TPLF published a statement on August 19th to deny theseaccusations and to call for an independent UN-ledinvestigation.

20. The Agency for Civil SocietyOrganizations (ACSO) announced that it is investigating 11local and international organizations for alleged fraudulentactivities. No list of the CSOs under investigation waspublished. EU partners also reported that ACSO has stoppedthe

accreditation process for new organizations, whichmight create a challenge for some EU partner organizationsthat were in process to finalize their official registrationin Ethiopia.

21. During the past days, police in AddisAbaba carried out a new round of arrests of Tigrayans livingin the capital. Among those arrested was Hailu Kebede of theSalsay Woyane Part (a political party from Tigray opposed tothe TPLF), who met with EU Envoy Pekka Haavisto some monthsago (as well as with the EU EOM Assessment Team).

22.On August 18th, Human Rights Watch published a detailedaccount documenting the ethic profiling, unlawful arrestsand forced disappearances of ethnic Tigrayans in the capitalAddis Ababa.

23. Over the past weeks, there have beenunconfirmed reports of attacks on ethnic Tigrayans in sometowns of the Amhara Region reportedly even people whoonly have a very remote connection with the Tigray Regionhave also been targeted.

24. On August 18th, allEmbassies and International Organizations based in AddisAbaba received a Verbal Note from the Ministry of ForeignAffairs asking them to provide a detailed list of allsecurity staff employed to secure their premises/residences.Of particular concern the is request to all Embassies toprovide details on the ethnicity of their securitystaff. Several EU MS have already indicated that they arenot planning to provide the requested information to theEthiopian authorities this will be coordinated in thenext HoMs meeting on August 24th.

25. It looks increasinglyunlikely that the second part of the elections will takeplace on September 6th. The latest rumours from the NationalElectoral Board of Ethiopia indicate a postponement probablyto the end of September.

26. One of the areas wherethe elections still have to take place is the Somali Region.The Ogaden National liberation Front (ONLF) expressed theirfrustration over the NEBEs investigations into thecomplaints they filed together with other opposition partiesregarding the voter registration process in Somali Region.ONLF published a statement sayingthat

participating in the rigged elections in theSomali State will be meaningless.

27. Unconfirmedreports indicate that protests took place last week in theWestern Gambella Region against the ruling Prosperity Partyover the general call for mobilization that was launched bythe Government last week (each Region is apparently expectedto send a certain numbers of recruits to the fronts inNorthern Ethiopia).

28. On the invitation of the Turkish PresidentErdogan, PM Abiy Ahmed made an official visit to Turkey onAugust 17th 18th. On the occasion of the visit, Ethiopiaand Turkey announced the signature of diplomatic, social andeconomic agreements; as well as cooperation

agreementson water development and military cooperation. PresidentErdogan also stated that he attaches great importance to theresolution of the Tigray crisis and offered to mediate onthe border dispute between Ethiopia and Sudan.

29. Itis presumed that PM Abiy Ahmed asked Turkish support toobtain military technology, especially drones. Dronetechnology played a big role in the first phase of theconflict in November 2020, when TDF/TPLF was pushed back toremote mountainous areas of Tigray. The Ethiopian PMafterwards talked enthusiastically about this dronetechnology in the Ethiopian Parliament and seems convincedthat it could alter the course of the war once again.According to analyst, the Ethiopian PM would moresspecifically be interested in obtaining TurkishBayraktar-TB2 and ANKA-S drones.

30. It was reportedlast week that the Ethiopian authorities transferred themanagement of 6 on 11 Turkish schools in Ethiopia which usedto be run by the Gulen Movement to the pro GovernmentTurkeys Maarif Foundation. This is still controversial assome of the schools were actually lawfully owned by Germanprivate education companies.

31. Ethiopian State-mediacontinue to broadcast programs with anti-Western content,targeting specifically the US and theEU.

Sign-off Luca Zampetti ChargdAffaires

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Leaked EU Diplomatic Cable: DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO ETHIOPIA | Scoop News - Scoop.co.nz

Across Britain, a slow-burning problem has ignited into a supply chain crisis in recent weeks as restaurants, supermarkets and food manufacturers warned customers that some popular products may be temporarily unavailable because of a shortage of truck drivers.

McDonalds milkshakes, Nandos chicken, Haribo sweets and supermarket milk are among the items that have become scarce in Britain over the summer. But it goes far beyond food: Nearly every industry is complaining about delivery problems. And already organizations are warning that logistics issues could upend the arrival of Christmas toys and the trimmings crucial to family holiday meals.

A long-running shortage of truck drivers has been exacerbated by a post-Brexit exodus of European Union workers. Adding to the problem are disruptions to training for new drivers because of the pandemic. And for years, the trucking industry has struggled to attract new workers to a job that has traditionally been low paid and required long, grueling hours.

Ninety-five percent of everything we get in Britain comes on the back of a truck, said Rod McKenzie, the director of policy at Road Haulage Association, which represents the British road transport industry, and estimates that there is a shortfall of 100,000 drivers. So if there are not enough trucks to go around and weve got reports of big companies with a hundred trucks parked up at any one time there simply is less stuff being delivered.

Earlier in the summer, the German candy company Haribo said it was struggling to get its sweets into British shops. Arla, a large dairy producer, said it was having to skip up to a quarter of its deliveries. Last week, Nandos, the popular restaurant chain, had to close about 50 of its restaurants because of a shortage of its famed peri-peri chicken. This week, Greggs, a grab-and-go coffee and lunch cafe, and Costa, a coffee chain, were the latest to suffer product shortages because of supply chain disruptions.

The delivery problems are forcing other companies to triage what they sell. McDonalds took milkshakes and bottled drinks off the menu this week, allowing it to focus on serving burgers and fries.

British shoppers should expect to see even more companies reduce their product options and prioritize their best-selling items, Mr. McKenzie said.

In some cases, the disruption has been worsened by staff shortages. A major British poultry producer, 2 Sisters Food Group, said Brexit had contributed to a 15 percent reduction in its work force this year. The British Meat Processors Association recently warned that companies were six weeks behind their Christmas production schedules, almost guaranteeing shortages of popular items over the holidays.

The group also said its problems had been made more severe by retailers poaching their truck drivers with pay bonuses.

Iceland, a large supermarket chain, is raising the alarm about Christmas. It said retailers should be building up their inventory beginning in September, but instead, shelves are now emptying out. Richard Walker, the managing director, said the company was missing 100 full-time drivers.

That is impacting the food supply chain on a daily basis, Mr. Walker told the BBC. Weve had deliveries canceled for the first time since the pandemic began about 30 to 40 deliveries a day.

The United States also faces a shortage of truck drivers; the crisis is similar in that its been years in the making, as trucking companies have failed to attract younger workers. In Britain, the average age of a truck driver is nearly 50. Six years ago, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport said that just 2 percent of drivers were under the age of 25 and that by 2022, the industry would need 1.2 million more workers.

Daily Business Briefing

Aug. 27, 2021, 8:54 p.m. ET

Then, after the 2016 Brexit referendum, the value of the British pound plummeted, making it less lucrative for continental Europeans truck drivers included to work in Britain, prompting some to return to their home countries. That trend was exacerbated by the pandemic, when many wanted to be closer to their families.

When Britain took the final step of leaving the European Union at the end of last year, it meant drivers from continental Europe could no longer be employed at short notice and with ease in Britain.

Until December, there was never going to be a labor shortage because, as soon as there was a sign of one, a company could talk to their agency in Poland or elsewhere and get them to send some people over, said David Henig, a trade expert at the European Center for International Political Economy, a research institute.

Similarly, Brexit has complicated the job for British drivers who make international journeys because of the new paperwork needed to take loads to countries including France, the Netherlands and Ireland.

And more roadblocks are coming when Britain phases in the introduction of checks on foods and other goods coming into the country from continental Europe later in the year (so far, these checks have been performed only on items exported to the European Union).

The haulage and logistics industries in Britain have pleaded with the government to ease restrictions on visas for E.U. drivers. Logistics U.K., a trade group, is asking the government to create 10,000 seasonal visas (similar to a program for farm workers) for drivers.

To ease the shortage, the government has increased the number of hours drivers can work each day, and it has proposed initiatives to recruit new drivers, but it has resisted pressure to ease visa rules for European truck drivers.

I dont think the government wants to go there: if they give concessions on lorry drivers, there are other requests that will follow, Mr. Henig said. Nor is there significant political pressure to concede because the opposition Labour Party, which is trying to woo back pro-Brexit voters, is cautious of criticizing Britains withdrawal from the European Union.

Efforts to fill those jobs with new British drivers have been stymied because over much of the last year, pandemic lockdowns prevented driving exams from taking place. The Road Haulage Association estimates that as many as 40,000 tests were not conducted. Training a new driver takes up to six months.

Employers have responded by raising pay and offering signing bonuses. Tesco, Britains largest supermarket chain, is offering 1,000 bonuses to drivers who join before the end of September and further pay increases for six more months.

Its definitely an undervalued profession, said Alex Veitch, the general manager of public policy at Logistics U.K., in both pay and the appreciation for its crucial role in supplying necessities and the pressure of performing the job safely. Thats bound to change.

Working conditions, too, have been the focus of complaints among drivers. The job involves long, sometimes lonely hours, andsafe parking spaces and rest stops for truckers can be hard to find. The challenges of truckers was stark last year when thousands of drivers in southern England spent Christmas camping in the front of their trucks after the French government closed the border in a vain attempt to stop the further spread of the coronavirus. It then took days to clear the backlog.

Mr. McKenzie at the Road Haulage Association joined others in predicting the problems would still disrupting deliveries come Christmas. The problem isnt showing signs of abating.

Its getting worse, Mr. McKenzie said. No doubt, no question. Its getting worse week on week.

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Chicken, Milkshakes, Candy: Scarce in Britains Truck Driver Shortage - The New York Times

Islamabad: After maintaining an indefinite ban on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is entering as a member of European Union states, the EU has asked the national flag carrier for assistance in evacuating its personnel staff from Afghanistan.

The European Union officials have requested evacuation support from Pakistani authorities as the window for airlifting is narrowing down. The majority of the diplomatic corps and local employees have been evacuated from Kabul by the member states thus far.

After the Taliban takeover and deteriorating security situation, the majority of EU workers have already evacuated from the country, particularly after suicide bombings near Kabul airport.

Because of safety concerns, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended PIAs third country operator authorization to fly flights in EU member states for six months.

The EASA, on the other hand, in April prolonged travel restrictions indefinitely and ordered the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) to have its safety audit done by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

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The European Union has requested PIA to evict its staff from Afghanistan - BOL News